The present invention relates to an orthodontic jig used for affixing brackets to a patient""s tooth, and more particularly to orthodontic jig for positioning and affixing the brackets to an anterior tooth and a posterior tooth.
Generally, as can be seen in FIG. 2a and FIG. 2b, an orthodontic bracket 100 is comprised of a base 101, a slot 102a, an identification mark 104, and tie wings 102.
The base 101 is slightly larger than the center section of the bracket 100 and is concave to conform to the surface of the patient""s tooth. The chambered slot 102a is slightly angled to the horizontal center line of the bracket 100 to receive an arch wire 103 which makes an ideal dentition. The tie wing 102, being of rhomboidal construction, is used for securing the labial tooth surface""s not coming in contact with a ligature wire 105. The identification mark allows an orthodontist quicker identification when rebonding a loose bracket. The ligature wire 105 holds the arch wire 103 which will make the ideal dentition after the bracket 100 is glued to the patient""s tooth. The stem is integrally formed on the base 101 in order to receive the ligature wire 105 or an elastic ligature.
To make a functional dentition, the orthodontist must glue the bracket 103 accurately 3.5 mmxcx9c5 mm away from the end of the tooth and rapidly onto the surface of the tooth, because orthodontic bonding materials are congealed within 30 seconds. Simultaneously, the orthodontist must glue the bracket 100 parallel to the vertical axis of the tooth, referring to a vertical scribe line (not shown) of the bracket 100.
Conventional orthodontic tweezers are, for example, a cross-over type as can be seen in FIG. 2b, the cross-over type has a gripping jaw which is held in the closed position by tension formed by the shape of the tweezers. The user must apply pressure to the members to open the jaw align the object upon which the tweezers are to be used with, and then reduce the pressure on the members so that the object is held by the gripping area.
The cross-over type is referred over other designs for work requiring the object to be held securely and accurately, as the amount of pressure applied by the user. This is especially crucial in the orthodontics field and in the placement of brackets on the patient""s teeth, because such brackets are very small and must be held securely and located precisely. Therefore, the preferred embodiment of the tweezers, and could also embody tweezers which are not the cross-over type.
On the other hand, to attach the bracket to the patient""s tooth, the orthodontist generally uses various conventional tweezers for gripping the bracket. Also, to measure distance between the end of tooth and the bracket, the orthodontist generally uses a gauge comprising four different measurement tooth or uses the naked eye. Using one or both of these methods, the orthodontist ascertains whether the bracket is in an accurate position.
However, the conventional tweezers have limitations in that the bracket is sometimes not in an accurate and precise position and it takes the orthodontist a lot of time to attach the bracket.
An orthodontic tweezers with a gauge, as shown in FIG. 3a of U.S. Pat. No. 5,868,787, are proposed to overcomes the above mentioned limitations of the conventional tweezers. Tweezers with a gauge in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,868,787 can help the user attach the brackets more accurately and precisely to the patient""s tooth and will serve well in the orthodontic field. Also, the user, using the tweezers can attach the brackets more quickly to the patient""s tooth with greater comfort.
However, the disadvantage of this tweezers is that it is difficult for the orthodontist to attach the brackets to molars because of the oral structure. Also, due to the height difference between the adjacent teeth, it is difficult to attach the bracket to the accurate orthodontic position. Also, the orthodontist cannot attach the bracket to the lingual surface of the teeth with this tweezers.
It is an object of this invention to provide an orthodontic jig for attaching and positioning various brackets with ease and with high accuracy although required position may vary on the molar or incisor.
It is another object of this invention to provide an orthodontic jig for attaching and positioning brackets with high accuracy when the size, torque, and angulation of the teeth are not uniform and the height difference between the adjacent teeth is very large.
It is further object of this invention to an orthodontic jig for attaching and positioning various brackets with ease and with high accuracy although required position may vary on the labial or lingual surface of the teeth.
In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an orthodontic jig for positioning a orthodontic bracket comprising a housing; a bracket support extending out of the front side of the housing through the back side of the housing; tweezers for gripping the tie wings of the bracket connected to the housing and disposed around the bracket support; a cusp tip reference means for setting the cusp tip of the tooth as the reference surface of the orthodontic position; means for displacing the cusp tip reference plate upward or downward; and a handle connected to the upper and lower surface of housing for supporting the housing.
The present invention still provides an orthodontic jig for positioning a orthodontic bracket comprising tweezers including two cross over extended parts which is provided with a gripping tip to grip the tie wing of the labial bracket; a housing including a tweezers support connected with the edge of the tweezers, and a height gauge disposed between the extended parts and connected with a height adjusting screw; a bracket support inserted through the housing, wherein one edge thereof is formed with xe2x80x98Txe2x80x99 shape and the other edge thereof includes a rotation adjusting handle; and a cusp tip reference plate fixed with the upper edge of the height gauge for setting the orthodontic position of the bracket from the cusp tip gauge.
The present invention further provides an orthodontic jig with the cusp tip reference means comprising a cusp tip reference plate connected to the displacing means; a frame having a connecting rod and a channel connected with the cusp tip reference plate; panels disposed at each side of the frame; an occlusal fossae positioning pin connected with the panel for coming in contact with the occlusal fossae of a molar; and span adjusting means connected to the panels for adjusting the span between the panels.
The present invention further provides an orthodontic jig with the lingual bracket positioning device comprising a vertical frame; a lingual bracket support plate inserted into the slot of the lingual bracket; a lingual bracket tweezers connected to the vertical frame for gripping the tie wings of the lingual bracket; a vertical panel including a hole connected to the cusp tip reference means, a scale disc provided with an elongated hole on a concentric circle and a connecting hole connected to the lingual bracket support plate at the center of the disc; and a lingual bracket tweezers connected to the cusp tip reference means for gripping the tie wings of the lingual bracket.